Flapper’s affectations
In addition to their distinctive dress style, with its focus on the appearance of the Gibson Girl by Charles Dana Gibson, flappers developed an affectation in their manner of speech, in addition to the slang in common use. The addition of foreign sounding syllables tacked on to the end of English words, or added between words, became a part of their parlance. They were particularly fond of the eastern European sounding ski. They also favored the French a vous. A hard and fast rule among the flappers when beating their gums was that when asked a question containing a suffix, the reply had to also contain the same suffix.
For example, a flapper might ask a friend, “Are you going to the movies tomorrow nightski?” An affirmative reply could be something along the lines of, “Yes, but first we’re having dinnerski at Delmonico’s.” Or using the French, “Did you see the new bimbo working a vous at the market?” “No, I haven’t been to the market a vous for a while.” Truly sharp flappers could combine the two in the same sentence, in something like, “The radioski is much too loud a vous, don’t you agree?” “No, the volumeski is just right, but I’ll turn it down a vous if it bothers you”, proving that neither of them could possibly be a dumb Dora.